Blasphemy And Jihad: Macron Launches EU Debate; Further Alienating European Muslims
New
Age Islam News Bureau
12
January 2022
French
president Emmanuel Macron at a memorial ceremony for Samuel Paty in 2020
(Photo: Ghislain Mariette / Présidence de la République)
-----
• Egypt’s
Dar al-Iftaa: Sharia Forbids All Domestic Abuse, Implores Men To Treat Wives
Well
• Supreme
Court Issues Notice On A PIL Seeking Probe Into The Alleged Hate Speech At
Haridwar and Delhi
• TikTok
Trend ‘Unboxing By Husband’ Among Newlywed Muslim Couples Receives Backlash
From The Public
• CAIR
Report Shows Nearly $106M Funnelled To Islamophobic Groups In US
Europe
• Extremist’
Called For ‘Jihad By Sword’ In Speech At Brighton Mosque, Court Hears
• 'Members
of radical Islamist groups were among attackers in Kazakhstan'
• UK
says it is 'not returning' any asylum seekers to Syria
• 'Largest
ever': UN launches $4.4B humanitarian aid appeal for Afghanistan
--------
Arab World
• Saudi
Mosque Imam Acquitted Of Sexual Harassment Charges Against His Domestic Maid
• Hezbollah
To Mark Execution Of Prominent Saudi Shia Cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr
• YPG/PKK
terrorists detain over 50 protesters in Syria
• Iraq
says arrests 62 Syrian ‘infiltrators’
• France
says UAE to join French-Saudi fund to support Lebanon
• Saudi
Arabia rare hail storm leaves sand dunes covered in snow in Medina
• UN
demands access to Yemeni port that coalition says is being militarized by
Houthis
--------
India
• Field
‘At Least 20’ Muslim Candidates In UP, BJP’s Minority Morcha Urges Central
Leadership
• 'Lower'-Caste
Muslims in UP Forge New Solidarities Ahead of Assembly Elections
--------
Southeast Asia
• How
Agriculture Led Indonesia’s Defence Minister To Talk Normalization With Israel
• Indonesian
politician hit with hate speech charge
• China
asks US to unfreeze Afghanistan’s nearly $10 billion
• 5-year-old
dead, 6 wounded in Philippines bus bombing
• 25
Bangladeshi recruitment agencies to send workers to Malaysia
--------
North America
• US
State Senator Faces Backlash Over Anti-Muslim Argument For Ending Mask Mandates
• Hoda
Muthana Denied SCOTUS Appeal, Cannot Return to U.S. After Joining Islamic State
• US
Supreme Court denies appeal of regretful ISIS bride
• Afghans
in US demand Biden administration lift restrictions on assets
• 20
years on, Guantanamo remains ‘black mark’ of US war on terror
• US
to send $308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
• UN
pleads $5 billion for Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
--------
Pakistan
• Educationists
And Activists In Pakistan Hail Supreme Court’s Questioning Extra Marks For Memorizing
Quran
• IS-K
militants on the run after evading police raid
• Pakistan
economic condition better than India: Imran Khan
• Pak
PM Imran Khan says his govt's relationship with military 'exceptional'
• Pakistani’s
research leads to first pig-to-human heart transplant
• COAS
for mission-oriented training to ensure combat readiness in face of emerging
threats, challenges
• Pakistan
seeks meaningful collaboration with EU nations: Qureshi
--------
Mideast
• Hamas:
Israel’s Violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque Will Have Dire Consequences
• Israel’s
library Middle East, Islamic collection draws online attention
• Iran
Calls for End to War, Siege of Yemen
• Baktash
Abtin’s death part of Iran ‘systematic killing’ of jailed dissidents: Inmates
• Elderly
Palestinian man killed by Israeli soldiers
• Palestinians
rally in support of prisoners held by Israel
--------
South Asia
• Afghan
Resistance Front Proposes Transitional Govt To Taliban In Tehran Talks
• Taliban
warned of repercussions if choppers, planes were not returned by Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan
• Prominent
Taliban Critic Released After Arrest, Says Daughter
--------
Africa
• Ogun
Obaship Law: Traditionalists Threaten Court Action, Says Muslims, Christians Can’t
Bury Obas
• Sudan’s
medics shaken by attacks on hospitals treating anti-coup protesters
• Political
parties banned from Tunisia state TV: Press syndicate
• Nigerian
president hails reappointment of former minister as UN deputy secretary-general
• Bomb
blast kills at least 2 security personnel in Somalia
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/blasphemy-jihad-macron-european-muslims/d/126140
--------
Blasphemy And Jihad: Macron Launches EU Debate; Further Alienating European Muslims
French
president Emmanuel Macron at a memorial ceremony for Samuel Paty in 2020
(Photo: Ghislain Mariette / Présidence de la République)
-----
By
Andrew Rettman
11
January, 2022
France
has launched an EU debate on the "extremely sensitive" issue of
blasphemy and jihadist violence, in a move that risks further alienating
European Muslims.
"Recent
episodes have shown the extremely sensitive nature of the notion of blasphemy,
which rallies and mobilises all streams of the radical Islamist scene,"
the French EU presidency said in a recent memo to member states.
"This
evolution of the threat seems tangible in several European countries," it
added.
"Indeed,
since early 2020, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany have faced a series
of attacks whose execution seems to correspond to this phenomenon," it
said.
"Such
is the case for the last seven attacks perpetrated in France - particularly the
series of four attacks in the fall of 2020, including the beheading of teacher
Samuel Paty," France said.
The
French memo, entitled Independent jihadist threat and seen by EUobserver, was
circulated on 5 January.
It
discussed trends since the fall of Islamic State [Isis], a jihadist regime in
Iraq and Syria.
The
"new type of threat" concerned individuals who had "shaken off
the influence of terrorist organisations [such as Isis], both operationally and
ideologically," France warned.
"This
type of attack ... is perpetrated by isolated actors who have a tenuous or
inexistent link to the radical movement and who were previously unknown to
intelligence services", it said.
Some
attackers suffered from "psychological instability or even mental
disorders," it added.
"These
terrorists use basic modi operandi, essentially with bladed or blunt weapons,
which can however have a major symbolic impact when the attacks result in
spectacular actions - such as beheadings - and target specific groups or people
... [including] individuals singled out as 'blasphemers'," France also
said.
"Do
the member states share the above stated view?", France asked.
The
answers are to be discussed by EU home affairs ministers on 3 March.
And
the talks are aimed at agreeing new EU recommendations on the "fight
against terrorism" on 10 June.
But
the discussions fall in the middle of French elections, due in April, in which
president Emmanuel Macron will be competing for votes from three rightwing
challengers - Valérie Pécresse and the far-right Marine Le Pen and Eric
Zemmour.
The
pre-election climate has already become toxic for French Muslims, with Macron
himself and his hardline interior minister Gérald Darmanin pursuing what one
NGO group, the European Network Against Racism, has called an
"Islamophobic witch-hunt".
And
for some commentators, such as the Brussels-based Shada Islam, Macron's
decision to now discuss blasphemy and jihadism at the EU-level risks making
matters worse.
"This
is the kind of dangerous scare-mongering about Islam and European Muslims that
the EU has to push back against," she told EUobserver.
Witch-hunt?
Macron
has in the past linked jihadist crimes to the rise of Salafism, a hardline
Islamic ideology, in France's suburban ghettoes, called "banlieues".
And
he has tried to stamp it out on the advice of Gilles Kepel, a Sorbonne-educated
academic and former advisor.
But
for other scholars of the subject, such as Olivier Roy from the European
University Institute in Italy, the French leader has been misinformed.
Roy
said it was the so-called Barlevi school of Islam, which originated in
Pakistan, that teaches the kind of thinking which led to Paty's murder.
"The
Salafis, on the contrary, reject any special devotion for the Prophet and do
not stress the blasphemy dimension," Roy told this website.
"Macron's
position seems to be that one should defend the right to blasphemy," Roy
added.
But
if Macron's version of defending "laïcité" [secularism] gains
traction in European politics, it could alienate Muslims of any creed.
"Many
young Muslims consider blasphemy against the Prophet as a way [for people] to
express sheer Islamophobia and hatred for Muslims in general," Roy said.
And
in any case, France's EU memo on the "new type of threat" posed by
"isolated actors" got its facts wrong, according to Jessica White, an
expert on terrorism at Rusi, a London-based think-tank.
The
threat was "not new" and the attackers were "not often
isolated", even if they did not act in the name of Isis, she said.
"Blasphemy
has been a fiercely-held and defended issue since the beginning of religion and
is certainly not specific to Islam ... in France, it isn't new either," she
noted.
"Most
of the individuals who act are connected in online communities ... where they
find resolve and encouragement for violence," White said.
Islamophobia
Meanwhile,
the discussion on blasphemy is not the only French EU presidency project on the
hot-button issues of identity and hate.
France
also circulated draft EU recommendations On combating racism and antisemitism
at a meeting in the EU Council on Monday (10 January).
The
draft urged member states to "criminalise all forms of discrimination based
on actual or alleged ethnic origin or religious beliefs".
It
urged them to adopt a far-reaching definition of antisemitism "in
particular for law-enforcement agencies as part of their efforts to detect and
prosecute antisemitic crime".
The
new EU recommendations are to be agreed by justice ministers on 4 March.
But
if Islamophobia posed a problem alongside other forms of hatred in France or in
Europe, then it was not even mentioned in the draft French text.
The
draft text noted only that the EU had created a 'Coordinator on combating
anti-Muslim hatred', but it also did not mention that this post has stood
vacant since last July.
And
for Roy, the blind-spot on Islamophobia arose from unanswered questions in
French and European thinking on Islam.
"There
is a consensus in Europe against hate speech, the problem is who is protected
by such laws: if there is a consensus on race, gender, and ethnicity, what
about religion?," he said.
"To
be a Muslim is not necessarily belonging to a race, an ethnic group, or a
culture," he noted.
"Is
Islamophobia a generic term for targeting anybody with a Muslim background ...
or is Islamophobia just criticism of a religion, in which case it is more
acceptable under the terms of freedom of expression?," he added.
"Clearly
the French position is that antisemitism is racism, while Islamophobia is just
the rejection of a religion, and hence not defamatory against a race or an
ethnic group," Roy said.
Source:
Euobserver
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://euobserver.com/democracy/154054
--------
Egypt’s
Dar al-Iftaa: Sharia Forbids All Domestic Abuse, Implores Men To Treat Wives
Well
Representative
Image
-----
January
11, 2022
Egypt’s
Dar al-Iftaa stressed on Tuesday that the Islamic Sharia has enjoined the
husband and wife to treat each other kindly, and the Prophet Mohamed made the
standard of goodness in husbands based on their treatment to their wives.
The
Prophet said: “The best of you is the one who is best to his wife, and I am the
best of you to my wives.”
Therefore,
the approach of the Prophet, as told by his own wife Aisha, is: “God’s
Messenger (Prophet Mohamed) never beat anyone with his hand, neither a woman
nor a servant.”
Commenting
on the spread of domestic violence footage across social media, Dar al-Iftaa
said that some have misinterpreted this verse – ‘As to those women on whose
part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their
beds, beat them- as justification for abuse.
Explained
that this understanding contradicts the Prophet’s own ways. It added that the
verse is not intended to harm or insult the wife, and this is consistent with
what was authentically narrated about the Prophet who forbade beating women by
saying: “Do not beat God’s handmaidens.”
Dar
Al-Iftaa said that no man is more knowledgeable about the purposes and
provisions than the Prophet himself, and stressed that the rules of Islamic
Sharia law oppose any physical and psychological harm against wives, as marital
life must be based on love and mercy.
Source:
Egypt Independent
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Supreme
Court Issues Notice On A PIL Seeking Probe Into The Alleged Hate Speech At
Haridwar and Delhi
Dharam
Sansad/Photo: Financial Express
----
By:
Express News Service | New Delhi |
January
12, 2022
The
Supreme Court Wednesday issued notice on a PIL seeking probe into the alleged
hate speech by participants at two separate events in Haridwar and Delhi on
December 17 and 21, 2021.
A
bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana issued the notice on the plea by Delhi
resident Qurban Ali and Senior Advocate Anjana Prakash.
Senior
Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the petitioners sought an early listing of
the matter saying another dharam sansad has been scheduled for January 23.
But
the bench pointed out that some related matters already seemed to be pending
before other benches and it will have to look into this first before listing the
matter. It said it will only restrict itself to issuing the notice for the
present.
“We
will issue notice. List after 10 days. We will see if it’s connected to any
other matters. If not we will hear it separately,” the bench, comprising
Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said.
The
court also allowed the petitioners to make representation to local authorities
regarding their concerns about similar events scheduled in other places, ‘which
according to petitioners is contrary to settled law as well as other judgements
of the court”.
The
plea specifically referred to hate speeches delivered at an event in Haridwar
organised by Yati Narsinghanand and another in Delhi by ‘Hindu Yuva Vahini’.
Speakers allegedly called for the “genocide of members” of a community, the PIL
stated.
The
plea stated “the aforementioned hate speeches consisted of open calls for
genocide of Muslims in order to achieve ethnic cleansing. It is pertinent to
note that the said speeches are not mere hate speeches but amount to an open
call for murder of an entire community. The said speeches thus, pose a grave
threat not just to the unity and integrity of our country but also endanger the
lives of millions of Muslim citizens”.
It
said that “no effective steps have been taken by the Police authorities” in the
matter and added that though police have registered two FIRs against 10 people
who took part in the Haridwar Dharam Sansad, only Sections 153A, 295A and 298
of the IPC have been made.
Appearing
for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, urged the bench to read the
transcript of the inflammatory speeches made in Haridwar, Live Law reported. He
demanded that the case be heard next on January 17, adding that such events are
also being organised in other parts of the country
The
plea said “it is also relevant to note that no action whatsoever has been taken
by the Delhi Police in relation with the event held in Delhi despite the fact
that open calls for genocide, that are available on the internet, were made
therein”.
It
contended that the “recent speeches are a part of a series of similar speeches
that we have come across in the past” and added that the “not only the inaction
of the Police allows delivery of hate speeches with impunity but also shows
that the Police authorities are in fact hand in glove with the perpetrators of
communal hate”.
“That
the contents of the speech feed into an already prevailing discourse which
seeks to reimagine the Indian Republic as exclusivist, and that which has no
space for other cultures, traditions and practices. Such a discourse is in
itself violative of constitutional guarantees provided to minority cultures and
religions in India’, it said adding that “the impact of such repeated speeches
shows a rise in structural…and physical violence”.
Source:
Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/haridwar-hate-speech-supreme-court-7719067/
--------
TikTok
Trend ‘Unboxing By Husband’ Among Newlywed Muslim Couples Receives Backlash
From The Public
A
groom removing head accessories from his bride’s tudung to commemorate their
nuptials. — TikTok screencaps-.
------
11
Jan 2022
BY
MELANIE CHALIL
PETALING
JAYA, Jan 11 ― The latest TikTok trend among newlywed Muslim couples is
receiving backlash from the public.
‘Unboxing
by husband’ or ‘unboxing pengantin’ which translates to ‘unboxing bride’ is an
actual thing that involves newlyweds, especially Muslim women in hijab.
The
trend sees wedding couples standing in front of the mirror in their bridal wear
with the groom removing the bride’s head accessories from her tudung ― all on
camera for social media.
It is
understood that many take part in the trend to commemorate a happy occasion
whilst announcing to viewers that they are legally husband and wife.
But
not everyone agrees with brides being ‘unboxed’ by their husbands on grounds
that it was against Islamic principles.
“Don’t
you feel ashamed recording such videos? A wife’s Aurat needs to be looked after
by her husband,” one comment read.
“Young
newlyweds these days are so easily influenced by inappropriate things for the
sake of trends but in actual fact, it embarrasses yourself and your family,”
another comment said.
The
Perak Islamic Religious Department advised Muslims to stay away from the trend,
saying it was compulsory for husbands to protect their wives’ honour.
“The
act of ‘unboxing’ is not part of Islamic teaching because it is the beginning of
sin and invites slander,” it said in a Facebook post today.
The
post was shared by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department.
Muslim
preacher Pencetus Ummah (PU) Syed also slammed the trend, describing it as
“heresy”.
PU
Syed subscribed to the view that a wife is her husband’s belonging and it was
haram for husbands to expose their wives’ aurat or intimate parts.
“Our
wife is our property, we cannot share their beauty and charm with others,
everything belongs to us as a husband.
“We
can be young and try new things, but we must obey God’s law and never do such
things.
“Don’t
take part in nonsense because it doesn’t bring any benefits,” the preacher
whose real name is Syed Mohd Bakri Al-Yahya told mStar yesterday.
In a
social media context, unboxing typically involves a person, usually an
influencer, filming the process of opening a box or original packaging to
reveal a consumer product.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
CAIR
Report Shows Nearly $106M Funnelled To Islamophobic Groups In US
A
group of Former U.S. President Donald Trump supporters display Islamophobic
messages at a gathering (Reuters File Photo)
-----
Servet
Gunerigok
11.01.2022
WASHINGTON
The
US' largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization released a report
Tuesday that revealed nearly $106 million that was provided to Islamophobic
groups between 2017-2019.
The
"Islamophobia in the Mainstream" report by the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) lists 35 charitable institutions and
foundations that funneled $105,865,763 to 26 anti-Muslim groups.
Christian
Advocates Serving Evangelism Inc., Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Schwab
Charitable Fund, Marcus Foundation, the Adelson Family Foundation and the
Jewish Communal Fund were among the top six funders of the US Islamophobia
network, according to the report.
The
Islamophobic groups are accused of spreading false information about Muslim
communities in the US and beyond through social media, the press, public
hearings and other avenues.
"The
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) received a combined total of over
$60 million from the Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism Inc between 2017-
2019.
"The
law firm has a history of supporting anti-Muslim policies like the Muslim Ban.
In 2017 the ACLJ filed a supporting court brief in defense of the Muslim
Ban," said the report.
CAIR’s
National Research and Advocacy Coordinator Huzaifa Shahbaz said in a statement
that "it is no secret that the Islamophobia Network remains hyper-active
and well-funded.
"Despite
a slight decline in foundations that funneled money to anti-Muslim groups,
millions of dollars still flow to organizations that spread misinformation and
perpetuate dangerous stereotypes about Muslims and Islam.”
Shahbaz
also called on the philanthropic community to establish clear policies to
prevent funds from going to hate groups and implement educational initiatives
for staff and board members to help them understand the extent of anti-Muslim
bigotry.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Extremist’
Called For ‘Jihad By Sword’ In Speech At Brighton Mosque, Court Hears
Lizzie
Dearden
11
January, 2022
An
alleged Islamist extremist told the congregation of a Brighton mosque it was
“compulsory” for them to “undertake violent jihad,” a court has heard.
Abubaker
Deghayes, 53, denies encouraging terrorism with a speech delivered on 1
November 2020.
The
first day of his trial at London’s Old Bailey heard he had attended evening
prayers at Brighton Mosque and then “stood at the front of the congregation and
gave a speech”.
CCTV
footage played to the court showed Mr Deghayes making what the prosecution
described as a “stabbing motion” after talking about jihad, Israel, the British
government and Prevent counter-extremism programme.
Prosecutor
Ben Lloyd told jurors that Mr Deghayes said “jihad by fighting by the sword was
compulsory until the day of resurrection”.
“He
was encouraging violence in the name of Islam,” he added. “Through the
defendant’s words and gestures he was encouraging people to undertake violent
jihad.
“The
speech demonstrates him to be an Islamic extremist - he is someone I suggest
who believes in the use of violence in the cause of Islam.”
Mr
Lloyd said Mr Deghayes had not given the speech “naively”, and was “at the very
least being reckless as to whether people would be encouraged by what they
heard”.
Jurors
were played footage of the speech, which lasted for around 20 minutes, and
given a transcript including translations of parts where Mr Deghayes spoke in
Arabic.
In
one part he talked about the “kuffar”, meaning disbelievers, saying: “Allah is
more powerful than you! You, idiots! You kuffar idiots, Allah is more powerful
than you! The non-believer [inaudible] is an idiot, he’s stupid.”
Mr
Lloyd accused Mr Deghayes of setting up an “us and them approach” between
Muslims and non-Muslims, and using the word kuffar as a derogatory term.
In
another part of the speech, the defendant said Muslims were obliged to
“emigrate” abroad if they are “in a land where we can’t practice our religion”.
Mr
Deghayes later addressed jihad, telling the congregation: “Jihad is compulsory
upon you, you, you and you until the day of resurrection, whatever the British
government thinks, whatever Prevent thinks, whatever Israel thinks; send to the
sea. They can go and drink from the sea [inaudible] Allah curse their fathers,
OK?”
The
defendant continued: “Jihad, jihad, jihad! Jihad is compulsory. Jihad by fighting
by sword,this jihad is compulsory upon you, not jihad is the word of mouth.”
Mr
Lloyd said the words made clear that the defendant was referring to violent
jihad, rather than other forms of religious struggle.
Source:
Independent UK
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
'Members
of radical Islamist groups were among attackers in Kazakhstan'
Jeyhun
Aliyev
11.01.2022
People
experienced in "getting involved in hotspots" on the side of
"radical Islamist groups" were among the attackers during recent
riots in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh envoy to Turkiye said on Tuesday.
"Kazakhstan
was subjected to armed aggression by well-coordinated terrorist groups trained
abroad," Kazakh Ambassador Abzal Saparbekuly told reporters in the capital
Ankara.
"Terrorist
groups emerged by activating so-called sleeper cells. Unfortunately, the law
enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan were not prepared for such large and
coordinated attacks in several regions at once," Saparbekuly said, adding
that at this stage the authorities do not wish to name any terror organization
behind the protests.
He
said 16 Kazakh soldiers who confronted the "terrorists" were
"martyred," two of whom were beheaded, and 1,300 security forces
personnel got wounded.
As
many as 164 people were killed in four main provinces, while at least 8,000
have so far been detained, he added.
Although
the telecommunication and internet was down, the "terrorists" had
walkie-talkies for communication and coordination, Saparbekuly said.
He
explained that the recent tensions were not peaceful demonstrations, and cannot
be termed an uprising such as Arab spring or the newly coined "Turkic
spring."
"Although,
initially, the rallies in western Kazakhstan were peaceful and socio-economic
in nature, participants in the later demonstrations did not put forward any
economic or even political demands. They had no intention of negotiating with
the authorities, but aimed to overthrow the constitutional order by
force," the envoy said.
Kazakhstan
had been rocked by days of deadly protests sparked by a fuel price hike.
Demonstrations
that started in the oil-rich Mangystau region on Jan. 2 spread rapidly to other
parts of the country, including the commercial hub and former capital Almaty,
where thousands took to the streets.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UK says
it is 'not returning' any asylum seekers to Syria
Ahmet
Gurhan Kartal
11.01.2022
LONDON
Britain
on Tuesday said it is “not returning” any people to Syria in line with the UN
judgment that the latter “remains unsafe.”
The
statement from Home Office came after reports by The Guardian on Sunday that a
Syrian asylum seeker was asked to go back to his country.
The
daily said, based on a refusal letter from the Home Office, that the
25-year-old man was told that he could return to the country he fled during the
war because it is safe to do so.
The
Syrian asylum seeker fled “forcible conscription” into the Syrian regime’s army
in 2017, saying he would have been forced to kill other Syrians if returned.
He
also said he could be targeted as a draft evader, arrested, and even killed in
Syria.
The
Guardian said it saw a refusal letter from Home Office last month.
“I am
not satisfied to a reasonable degree of likelihood that you have a well-founded
fear of persecution,” the letter was quoted as saying.
Home
Office’s official Twitter account on Tuesday said: “In the current
circumstances we are not returning people to Syria.”
“The
UK Government agrees with the UN judgement that Syria remains unsafe for them.”
The
asylum seeker had told the British paper that he “escaped from Syria in 2017
and I am looking for safety.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/uk-says-it-is-not-returning-any-asylum-seekers-to-syria/2471434
--------
'Largest
ever': UN launches $4.4B humanitarian aid appeal for Afghanistan
Peter
Kenny
11.01.2022
GENEVA
The
UN and its partners launched on Tuesday a $4.4 billion funding appeal to avert
a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan in 2022.
"This
is the largest ever appeal for a single country for humanitarian
assistance," UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief chief Martin
Griffiths told reporters in Geneva.
"This
is a stop-gap, an absolutely essential stop-gap measure that we are putting in
front of the international community today. Without this being funded, there
won't be a future; we need this to be done; otherwise, there will be outflow,
there will be suffering."
The
UN said 22 million people inside Afghanistan and a further 5.7 million
displaced Afghans in five neighboring countries need vital relief this year.
Aid
agencies describe Afghanistan’s plight as one of the world’s most rapidly
growing humanitarian crises. According to the UN humanitarian coordination
office OCHA, half the population now faces acute hunger, over nine million
people have been displaced and millions of children are out of school.
Meanwhile,
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called for $623 million to
support refugees and host communities in the neighboring countries.
"There
is a regional dimension to this crisis, represented by the Afghan refugees but
also Afghans with many other 'stay' arrangements in neighboring
countries," he said.
He
insisted that there is a need “to stabilize the situation inside Afghanistan,
including that of displaced people ... and to prevent a larger refugee crisis,
a larger crisis of external displacement.”
Griffiths
asked the international community not to "shut the door on the people of
Afghanistan."
"Humanitarian
partners are on the ground, and they are delivering, despite the challenges.
Help us scale up and stave off widespread hunger, disease, malnutrition, and
ultimately death by supporting the humanitarian plans we are launching today,”
he said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab World
Saudi
Mosque Imam Acquitted Of Sexual Harassment Charges Against His Domestic Maid
January
12, 2022
MAKKAH
— A court in the Makkah region issued a ruling acquitting a mosque imam of
charges of sexually harassing his domestic maid.
The
court rejected the case on the ground that the plaintiff failed to prove the
charges with substantial evidence. The Court of Appeal finally upheld the
ruling and gave its final approval, according to the verdict, a copy of which
is seen by Okaz/Saudi Gazette.
The
Public Prosecution referred the case to the court after carrying out
investigation into the complaint of harassment filed against the mosque imam,
who is a Saudi citizen.
In a
historic verdict, a Saudi court recently sentenced a man convicted of sexual
harassment to naming and shaming in public, in addition to a prison term and a
fine.
The Criminal
Court in Madinah sentenced Yasser Muslim Al-Arawi to eight months in prison and
a fine amounting to SR5,000 for harassing a woman using obscene remarks.
This
was the first verdict issued by a Saudi court to name and shame a culprit in a
sexual harassment case after the Council of Ministers approved a law that
called for publicly revealing the identity of individuals found guilty of
sexual harassment.
In
January 2021, the Council of Ministers added a new paragraph to Article 6 of
the Kingdom’s Anti-Harassment Law, stating that the judgment in sexual
harassment case shall be summarized in local newspapers at the expense of the
convicted person.
Lawyer
Saleh Al-Ghamdi, a former member of the Public Prosecution, said that the
Anti-Harassment Law, which was approved in May 2018, consists of seven
articles, and its Article 6 was amended with adding paragraph 3 according to a
royal decree issued in January 2021.
The
amendment read as follows: “It is permissible to include the sentence issued
determining the penalties referred to in this article and to publish its
summary at the expense of the convicted person in one or more local newspapers,
or in any other appropriate means, according to the gravity of the crime and
its impact on society, and this will be after issuance of the final verdict in
the case.”
He
noted that the text of Paragraph 1 of Article 6 stipulates that whoever commits
a crime of harassment shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not
exceeding two years and a fine not exceeding SR100,000 or one of these two
penalties. The penalty will be applicable to male and female convicts.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Hezbollah
to mark execution of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr
11
January, 2022
Members
of Hezbollah will on Wednesday mark six years since the execution of prominent
Shia cleric Sheikh Al-Nimr, according to reports, amid heightened tensions
between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
The
event will mark six years since Riyadh's execution of Al-Nimr, a popular figure
among Saudi Shia Muslims whose execution sparked angry protests in neighbouring
Iran.
The
Hezbollah event - dubbed "the Opposition Meeting in the Arabian
Peninsula" - will be held in the Mujtaba area of Beirut's southern
suburbs.
It
appears to be in response to the launch of the so-called "National Council
to Confront the Iranian Occupation", which was recently formed by around
200 signatories with its head office led by former Lebanese MP and minister Ahmed
Fatfat, according to Al-Modon.
Saudi
Arabia executed Al-Nimr, a renowned Shia cleric who often criticised the ruling
family, on 2 January 2016, on "terrorism" charges.
He
was executed due to his support of the mass anti-government protests that took place
in the Eastern province of Qatif, where a Shia majority have long complained of
marginalisation.
Wednesday's
event will take place amid tensions between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, where the
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused the Gulf country of
"terrorism" and "spreading ISIS ideology" in a recent
speech.
Lebanese
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Nasrallah's comments did "not serve the
national interest" or "represent the country's official stance".
Lebanon
and Saudi Arabia have been experiencing a series of diplomatic rifts since late
October 2021.
The
Saudi government withdrew its ambassador to Lebanon following remarks by
Lebanon's then Minister of Information, George Kordahi, who criticised the Gulf
country’s involvement in the Yemeni civil war.
Saudi
Arabia, along with other GCC countries, also banned Lebanese imports, dealing a
blow to Lebanon's struggling economy.
Source:
The New Arab
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/hezbollah-mark-saudi-shia-cleric-execution-anniversary
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YPG/PKK
terrorists detain over 50 protesters in Syria
Esref
Musa and Ethem Emre Ozcan
11.01.2022
TAL
ABYAD, Syria
The
terrorist organization YPG/PKK has detained in Syria's northeastern province of
Raqqa over 50 civilians who were protesting against the rising cost of living,
according to information retrieved Tuesday from local sources.
Last
Friday, the terrorists carried out an armed raid on the village of As-Suwayda,
where the protests were taking place.
The
terrorists blocked the entrance and exit of the village and opened fired on
villagers.
They
detained seven civilians who participated in the protests on Jan. 8, the
sources added.
On
Monday, the terrorists detained 45 civilians who wanted to protest against the
rising cost of living and corruption in the town of Al-Tabqah, west of Raqqa.
The
detainees were taken to an unknown place.
Although
the terrorist group holds over 70% of the country's energy resources, the
queues for sugar, fuel and bread keep growing as the residents are crushed by
poverty.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/ypg-pkk-terrorists-detain-over-50-protesters-in-syria/2471043
--------
Iraq
says arrests 62 Syrian ‘infiltrators’
Ibrahim
Saleh
11.01.2022
BAGHDAD
Iraq
said Tuesday it had arrested dozens of Syrians after crossing into the country
from its next-door neighbor.
In a
statement, the Defense Ministry said 62 Syrians were arrested in a joint operation
by the Iraqi border guards and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
The
statement, however, did not provide further details.
Iraq
shares 1,000-kilometer borders with Syria, where the Daesh/ISIS and PKK terror
groups having active presence.
Last
week, Syrian authorities handed over 50 Iraqi members of the Daesh/ISIS
terrorist group to Iraq.
Thousands
of Daesh/ISIS members fled to neighboring Syria after the defeat of the terror
group in Iraq in 2017.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iraq-says-arrests-62-syrian-infiltrators-/2471037
--------
France
says UAE to join French-Saudi fund to support Lebanon
12
January ,2022
France’s
foreign minister said on Tuesday the United Arab Emirates would join a
Saudi-French fund that aimed to provide support to the Lebanese people.
Riyadh
and Paris agreed in early December to establish a common humanitarian mechanism
to alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese as a first step to Saudi re-engaging
with Lebanon after a diplomatic row between Beirut and the Gulf states.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“The
visit by President (Emmanuel) Macron enabled the Gulf (Arab countries) to renew
ties, which saw (the creation of) a joint Franco-Saudi fund to support the
Lebanese, which will be helped tomorrow or the day after with a contribution
from the United Arab Emirates,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary
hearing.
Le
Drian gave no details on how the fund would work or how much was being pledged.
France
has led international efforts to resolve the political and economic crisis in
Lebanon.
But
despite staking a lot of political capital on the issue for more than a year,
President Emmanuel Macron has failed so far to push the country’s squabbling
politicians to carry out economic reforms that would unlock vital foreign aid.
Le
Drian bemoaned the ongoing political blockages surrounding an investigation
into the 2020 Beirut port explosion that have prevented the government from
meeting, saying this was an “unacceptable obstruction” for political
objectives.
The
powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement have refused to
allow the Cabinet to meet since Oct. 12, demanding the removal of a judge
investigating the devastating 2020 explosion in Beirut port. Prime Minister
Najib Mikati has said the executive branch has no say in the matter.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Saudi
Arabia rare hail storm leaves sand dunes covered in snow in Medina
12
January ,2022
A
rare hail storm left sand dunes covered in snow outside Badr city in Saudi
Arabia on Tuesday.
Drone
footage shows the unusual white landscape in Medina province, with locals
gathering to enjoy the scenes and cars driving on a nearby motorway.
Other
videos shared on social media showed a double rainbow that appeared in the sky
after the storm.
Earlier
this year, snow covered Saudi Arabia’s northwestern city of Tabuk.
Images
shared by state news agency SPA showed cars covered in snow and people wearing
heavy clothing as they enjoyed the rare sight of snow in the Kingdom.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UN
demands access to Yemeni port that coalition says is being militarized by
Houthis
12
January ,2022
The
UN mission in Yemen’s port of Hodeida, which is held by the Iran-backed Houthi
militia, expressed “great concern” on Tuesday over claims it was being
militarized by the group, and demanded access for an inspection.
The
United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeida Agreement (UNMHA) stated the port
was vital for the impoverished country that has been ravaged by a seven-year
war.
The
Arab Coalition fighting alongside government forces accused the Houthis of
militarizing the Red Sea ports and threatened to attack them, after the Houthis
seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged ship last week.
“UNMHA
reminds the parties that Hodeida ports are a crucial lifeline for millions of
Yemeni people,” it wrote in a statement.
The
coalition says the seized vessel, the Rwabee, was carrying medical supplies.
The
hijacking on January 3 raised fears that the conflict could spill over into the
Red Sea, a vital route for Gulf oil and cargo shipments.
“UNMHA
has requested as part of its mandate to undertake an inspection,” the statement
said, adding that protecting the ports was “in the interest of the Yemeni
people.”
The
internationally-recognized Yemeni government announced on Tuesday that its
forces had taken over the Shabwa province after intense fighting with the
Houthis.
The
Arab Coalition announced on Monday that it had carried out 11 strikes against
Houthi targets in Marib over 24 hours.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
Field
‘at least 20’ Muslim candidates in UP, BJP’s Minority Morcha urges central
leadership
NEELAM
PANDEY
11
January, 2022
New
Delhi: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) all set to finalise its tickets
for the assembly elections in five states, the party’s minority unit has urged
the central leadership to consider fielding Muslim candidates in Uttar Pradesh.
In
the 2017 assembly elections in UP, the party didn’t field a single Muslim
candidate. This time, the BJP Minority Morcha has called for at least 20
candidates, said its chief Jamal Siddiqui.
“There
are a number of seats that have a sizeable Muslim population and there are many
which we had lost by a small margin too. Take, for example, Sambhal, Moradabad,
Meerut, which have a big number of Muslim voters,” Siddiqui told ThePrint.
“In
West Bengal too, the party had fielded Muslim candidates and we are also
suggesting names for UP this time. We want more representation from the Muslim
community and this will help them move forward in society,” he said.
According
to Siddiqui, the Minority Morcha has identified 100 seats that have 30 per cent
minority population, 140 seats with 20 per cent minority vote and 40 seats with
60-70 per cent. “Most of these seats are in western Uttar Pradesh, Awadh and
Braj regions,” he added.
According
to sources, the party is concerned about facing issues in western UP even as
the controversial farm laws have been repealed.
Muslims
comprise around 19 per cent of the total population in Uttar Pradesh, and the
BJP has already chalked out a plan to focus on areas dominated by the community
where it lost by narrow margins in 2017.
Field
candidates from ‘right seat’
Siddiqui
said the West Bengal experience shows that if more Muslim candidates are
fielded from the “right seat”, they can emerge victorious.
“Though
(our Muslim candidates) did not win a seat (in Bengal), in two seats, we gave
tough competition. In Assam too, we had fielded candidates from the minority
community,” he said.
The
Minority Morcha has already set a target to get at least 5,000 new workers from
these communities in each assembly constituency. “Under this, 100 people have
been given the responsibility in each assembly constituency to create contact
with at least 50-100 persons,” said a BJP leader who didn’t wish to be named.
Siddiqui
said there are a number of Muslim-majority seats where the BJP lost in 2017 by
slender margins.
“For
instance, in Saharanpur Nagar, we lost to the Samajwadi Party by 4,000 votes.
In Dholana, which comes under the Ghaziabad district, the margin was also very
slim. There are many such examples,” he said.
There
is no definitive data available on whether the Muslim community votes for the
BJP.
However,
Studies in Indian Politics, a statistical report on the election results in all
states conducted between 2017 and 2018, said “an analysis of the results (Uttar
Pradesh) by proportion of Muslim population in constituencies shows that BJP
was ahead both in terms of votes and seats in both low and high
Muslim-dominated constituencies”.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
'Lower'-Caste
Muslims in UP Forge New Solidarities Ahead of Assembly Elections
Shireen
Azam
Jan
12, 2022
Varanasi:
“Humne Akbar Ka Taj Mahal Kab Maanga, Hum Pyaase Hai Hame Ganga Ka Paani De Do
(When did we ask for Akbar’s Taj Mahal. We are thirsty, give us water from the
Ganga,” sang Dr Liyaqat Ali, general secretary of the Dalit Muslim Halalkhore
Kalyan Parishad. Ali was standing on a stage at Shastri Ghat, Varanasi on
January 2 under the banner of the ‘Pasmanda Adhikar Sammelan (Pasmanda Rights
Convention)’. Pictures of M.K. Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar and Abdul Qayyum Ansari
formed the backdrop.
The
event on January 2 was a coming together of over 15 ‘lower’-caste Muslim associations
to demand rights for this group. On January 9, representatives of several of
these groups travelled across three districts of eastern UP, including to
create awareness about their issues and to form new solidarities. Pasmanda –
which means “left behind” in Persian – is increasingly a term used by Muslim
associations in UP and Bihar, among other parts of India. The term
distinguishes themselves as Muslim communities historically and socially
oppressed by factors of caste, which is often thought to affect Hindus alone.
The
convention banded together concerns of a variety of communities – from the
Dalit caste of Halalkhores (sweepers), Nats (dancers) and Dhobis (washermen) to
the backward castes of weavers (Bunkars/Ansaris), Qureishis (butchers), Nanpuzs
(nan makers), Mansooris (cotton-carders), Idrisis (tailors), Manihars, Shahs
(Fakirs), Salmani (barbers) and Rayeens (vegetable grocers), to name a few.
The
underlying theme was the need for “Ittehad (unity)” among these oppressed
groups. A univocal demand was the inclusion of Dalit Muslims in the Scheduled
Caste category, both to bring them both under reservations, and offer
protection under the atrocity act. “Just like there are Bhangis in Hindus,
there are Halalkhores in Muslims, we do the same work,” Ali reiterated. The
difference is that while Hindu Dalits are recognised under the SC category,
Muslim Dalits (as well as Christian Dalits) are not. A presidential order in
1950 had added a paragraph to Article 341, restricting SC status to only Hindus
(Buddhists and Sikhs were added to it later).
Multiple
high-level national commission reports, including the Sachar Commission (2006)
and the Ranganathan Commission (2005), have recommended the inclusion of Dalit
Muslims into the SC category. A study by Satish Deshpande and Geetika Bapna,
commissioned by the National Commission of Minorities in April 2007, observed
that “in most social contexts, Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians are Dalits
first and Muslims and Christians only second”. It had found Dalit Muslims to be
“unquestionably the worst off among all Dalits” in both rural and urban areas.
A 7,000-household study in Uttar, Pradesh published in 2017 in the Economic and
Political Weekly, showed that untouchability is widely experienced by Dalit
Muslims, including at the hands of Muslim backward castes and ‘upper’ castes.
Currently
Muslim Dalit castes like the Halalkhores, Nats and Dhobis are recognised only
under the Other Backward Classes category, which includes castes like Yadavs,
Kurmis and Ansaris – with very different socio-economic and educational
indicators – making it very difficult to compete. “Twenty-seven percent
reservation for (Muslim) Dalits and (all) OBCs together is too little. There is
no such livelihood for Dalit Muslim castes that they can ahead and learn. There
is no political representation, no means.” Ali, who is a co-editor at
Gyanshakti Times, said that the Halalkhore Parishad has been going on since the
1990s, but the fact that so many OBCs came together under the platform to raise
the demand for SC status for them was significant.
Apart
from inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Christian in the SC category, the demand of
inclusion of an Halalkhore representative in the National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis was made. “Our people live in the worst of conditions. They live in
huts and do menial jobs. We need an Ambedkar. Bismillah Khan could have been
our Ambedkar, but that couldn’t be.”
Speakers
thought that inclusion of Dalit Muslims under the SC/ST Act could offer them
protection under atrocities as well. “The people who die in lynchings are
Dalits, they are Nats, Halalkhores. If Dalit Muslims get SC status, the issue
of mob lynchings can be curtailed,” said Yusuf Ansari, advocate and national
president of the All India Pasmanda Adhikar Manch. “People tend to hide these
identities and pretend we are Khans and Pathans. Come, let us come together and
proudly say that we are Halalkhores or Nats.”
The
event was also attended by the Father Anand Mathew, who spoke of the rising
hatred in the country and the increasing violence against Muslims and
Christians. He reiterated the urgency for SC status to Dalit Christians and
Muslims.
Occupational
castes
Apart
from Dalit Muslims, the convention raised issues of castes who fall in the
occupational caste category, and are struggling because of government apathy or
suppression.
“Lower
castes of Muslims are overlooked by the government and upper castes both,” said
Idris Ansari, president of the Bunkar Manch (weavers’ association). The last
three years have been volatile for weavers in Uttar Pradesh, especially
Varanasi. In December 2019, the Adityanath-led BJP government passed an order
ending the flat electricity rates that weavers had been entitled to, and
enforcing unit-based consumption instead.
This
was unsustainable for power-loom weavers. A protest by several association of
weavers ensued in September 2020, and the government had to put a stay on the
rates. However, just last month, a new order asked for weavers to pay arrears
for the balance. “We are afraid that a new-BJP government will slash
flat-electricity rates.” Concerns of the Qureshi caste because of UP’s
slaughter ban and non-renewal of licenses were also addressed.
Solidarities
and issues
What
brings together interests of these castes? “It’s the same lathi which is caning
weavers also, Nats also, Qureshi also, and Nanpuz also. So why should we fight
separately, let’s fight together,” said Amaan Akhtar, who was the organiser of
the event under the Pasmanda Adhikar Manch, and is also associated with the
Congress Minority Cell in UP. “Our fight is not about Hindu vs Muslim. It’s a
fight of social justice. Constitution gives equal rights in the name of
religion. Article 341 says only Hindus can be included in SCs. My question is
Why? When there are sweepers among Muslims, Mochis, Dhobi who wash clothes, the
name is same, work is same, then why are you creating differences. Why are they
being denied rights.”
Akhtar
said that Pasmanda castes are being hit from both sides. “On one side, their
rights are being denied because they are Muslims. They are politically
marginalised, but also they have to face contempt because of their castes, from
Muslims as well. They do not get respect. Traditional occupations are also
dying because of non-recognition. Aligarh’s lock industry, Benares saree
weaving – they are all occupations of occupational castes. If the communities
are not recognised, they will wither. They need subsidies and support.”
“Pasmanda
has now become an important word,” said Ali Anwar, an ex MP from Patna. Anwar
was one of the chief guests at the event, along with Supreme Court advocates
Arun Manjhi and Deepak Singh. “People like Owaisi and the RSS are suddenly
trying to talk about Pasmanda. We are meeting so that our people don’t come
under the sway of either of them.”
Also
read: UP Polls: In Quest for Winnability, Will Akhilesh Yadav and SP Sideline
Social Justice?
Anwar,
who formed the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz in 1998, argued that the mainstream Muslim
leadership does not address issues of lower caste-Muslims. He said the Pasmanda
movement is now faced with a sword on its chest: “Secular parties have used
Muslims as vote-banks and not addressed our concerns. They are opportunistic.
But at least one can fight the secular parties. We know we have to fight them
and keep demanding our rights. But there is no fighting the BJP, which runs on
fascism and will kill democracy and the constitution.”
Solidarities
and “ittehad” are not that easy to come by, however. Akhtar mentioned that when
he went to approach one particular Dalit Muslim community to participate in the
convention, they got upset at being called by their caste name. “They want to
be called Khan.”
Source:
The Wire
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Southeast Asia
How
Agriculture Led Indonesia’s Defence Minister To Talk Normalization With Israel
JANUARY
11, 2022
Agricultural
cooperation has played a big role in a recent warming of ties between Israel
and Indonesia, with Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto leading the charge
from Jakarta.
A
recent series of meetings, statements and reports in the last few months of
2021 indicate that Israel and Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim
state, have grown closer.
The
two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations, but they cooperate in
trade and tourism, and the Foreign Ministry maintains a Facebook page in
Indonesian.
In
the 1970s and ’80s, Indonesia bought arms from Israel, and Indonesian soldiers
have trained in the Jewish state. In 1993, then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin
met then-Indonesian president Suharto in Jakarta. In 2016, then-deputy foreign
minister Tzipi Hotovely – now ambassador to the UK – said Israel was in
constant contact with the Oceania multi-island nation and hoped to establish
official ties.
Jakarta
was in talks with the Trump administration in December 2020 to normalize ties
with Jerusalem, and the US International Development Finance Corporation
offered to double its investment in Indonesia, but to no avail.
Subianto
met with National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata at a conference in Manama last
November, and he was seen speaking with Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Bahrain,
Itay Tagner, at the same event. After the photo was published, Subianto issued
a statement, saying it was not prohibited for him to speak to Israeli officials
when it is in the national interest.
Most
recently, a senior diplomatic official confirmed that US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken had brought the topic up with his counterpart in Jakarta last
month, and Jerusalem was informed in advance.
“It’s
a long process,” the official said. “There’s one meeting and then another and
unmarked planes and all of the cinematic things that go with that – and then,
one day, it happens.”
Some
of those secret meetings came from an unexpected source: agricultural
cooperation.
Last
October, Subianto announced he planned to run for president of Indonesia in
2024. Like many other leaders of Arab and Muslim states eyeing relations with
Israel, Subianto views Jerusalem as a stop on the way to better relations with
Washington, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
But
the presidential hopeful was already cooperating with Jerusalem during the
preceding months on agriculture and food security.
SHMUEL
FRIEDMAN, an agriculture consultant, entrepreneur and senior adviser to former
agriculture minister Yair Shamir, has been working on an agriculture R&D
center in Indonesia.
One
of the partners on that project – and others involving Israeli agricultural
know-how – is Subianto.
“Food
security for a nation is no less important than security itself, and [Subianto]
totally agrees with me on that,” Friedman said this week. “That’s what we know
[how] to bring. At the end of the day, we bring results and see satisfied
farmers, so it doesn’t matter where it comes from.”
Friedman
said he was aware of normalization talks between Jerusalem and Jakarta, but is
not involved on the political side.
“I
believe that ties between countries need to start there, with food security,”
he said. “Not with weapons – with food.”
One
of Friedman’s business associates is Joey Allaham, a Damascus-born, New
York-based businessman, perhaps best known for establishing the high-end kosher
restaurant Prime Grill. He lobbied for the government of Qatar in the American
Jewish community in 2017-2018, bringing leading community figures to Doha and
attaining Qatari donations for pro-Israel organizations.
But
Allaham also does business in Indonesia and throughout the Middle East and
tries to connect Israelis to new markets. He has helped facilitate the
cooperation between Friedman and Subianto.
In
October 2020, Allaham and Indonesian Minister for Maritime Affairs and
Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan donated 15,000 units of Taffix, the
Israeli-made anti-COVID-19 nasal spray, to Indonesian health workers and
military personnel.
Allaham
began working on taking Israel-Indonesia ties from trade and agriculture to
diplomacy in early 2021.
Through
a business contact who is a former senior IDF intelligence officer, he
orchestrated a meeting between Subianto’s personal assistant Sudaryono B. Eng
and an Israeli intelligence agent in Budapest last May.
From
there, Israel and Indonesia moved to higher-level contacts, including a meeting
in Paris.
Source:
Jerusalem Post
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-692184
--------
Indonesian
politician hit with hate speech charge
Katharina
Reny
January
11, 2022
A
Protestant politician in Indonesia is facing a prison term after being charged
with hate speech for allegedly making offensive social media comments on
religious, ethnic and racial issues.
Ferdinand
Hutahaean, a Democrat Party politician who failed to win a national assembly
seat in parliamentary elections in 2019, was arrested on Jan. 10 following an
outcry over a comment on Twitter in which he allegedly taunted Muslims by
calling their God “weak.”
“Poor
you, your God is evidently weak [and] must be defended. My God is amazing, [he]
is everything. He is my defender, and my God does not need to be defended,” the
tweet said.
Hutahaean
was arrested after two individuals filed police reports against him on Jan. 5
accusing him of insulting Islam.
Police
spokesman Ahmad Ramadhan said Hutahaean had been charged under the Electronic
Information and Transactions (ITE) law which bans online hate speech and which
carries a 10-year prison term.
Ramadhan
said Hutahaean will be detained for 20 days for further investigation.
Islamic
groups including the Ansor Youth Movement (GP Ansor), the youth wing of the
country’s largest Islamic group Nahdlatul Ulama, welcomed the charges.
Luqman
Hakim, its chairman, said Hutahaean’s arrest was appropriate as the comments
“had the potential to sow divisions in society.”
In a
video later posted on Twitter, Hutahaean apologized for the tweet, saying it
was “an imaginary dialogue between my heart and mind” and had nothing to do
with a certain group or religion.
The
tweet was the latest in a series of social media posts that have sparked uproar
in Indonesia.
In
December last year, Joseph Suryadi, a 39-year-old Christian, was charged with
blasphemy for allegedly insulting Islam by comparing the Prophet Muhammad with
an alleged child rapist in a social media post.
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesian-politician-hit-with-hate-speech-charge/95673
--------
China
asks US to unfreeze Afghanistan’s nearly $10 billion
11
Jan 2022
As
Afghanistan is still going through its toughest humanitarian and economic
situation of the past two decades and with over half of the population on the
brink of starvation, China has reiterated that the US must release
Afghanistan’s over $9.5 billion now frozen in its banks.
Spokesperson
of China’s Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin said that the US should unfreeze the
assets of Afghanistan’s Central Bank as the country is the only blameworthy of
Afghanistan’s ongoing situation.
Wang
Wenbin also asked for unilateral sanctions of the US on Afghanistan to be
lifted.
“US
is a country that started Afghanistan’s crisis and the country should not get rid
of the situation indifferently. The unilateral sanctions are further
deteriorating Afghanistan’s economic situation and the lives of people. We ask
the US to understand its mistakes, understand international responsibilities,
release the assets and lift unilateral sanctions.” Said the spokesman.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/china-asks-us-to-unfreeze-afghanistans-nearly-10-billion-3464574575/
--------
5-year-old
dead, 6 wounded in Philippines bus bombing
January
11, 2022
COTABATO:
A child was killed and six others wounded after a bomb exploded on a public bus
in the insurgency-plagued southern Philippines today, authorities said, but no
group has claimed responsibility.
Police
said the explosion happened as the bus was travelling along a highway near
Cotabato City on Mindanao island, a haven for multiple armed groups ranging
from communist insurgents to Islamist militants.
The
bomb was “inside the bus, at the end part … where there were a lot of people
sitting,” said Chief Master Sergeant Randy Hampac, police spokesman in Aleosan
town.
A
five-year-old boy died, while six others were wounded in the blast that
shattered the back windows, Hampac said.
The
wounded included a five-month-old baby and a three-year-old child.
A
police report said one of the victims saw a male passenger leave “baggage” on
the bus when he disembarked, and it later exploded.
“It
was the first time for this to happen in our town,” Hampac said.
“There
were incidents of bombing of cell towers in previous years but this incident of
an explosion in a bus, it’s the first time.”
Regional
military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel John Baldomar said no group had admitted
carrying out the “presumed attack”.
Militant
attacks on buses, Catholic churches and public markets have been a feature of
decades-long unrest in the region.
Manila
signed a peace pact with the nation’s largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, in 2014, ending their deadly armed rebellion.
But
smaller bands of Muslim fighters opposed to the peace deal remain, including
militants professing allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. Communist
rebels also operate in the region.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
25
Bangladeshi recruitment agencies to send workers to Malaysia
Jan
10, 2022
A
total of 25 Bangladeshi recruitment agencies and 250 sub-agencies are expected
to be involved in the recruitment of migrant workers for Malaysia, reports news
portal Malaysiakini citing sources.
Sources
familiar with the bilateral negotiations leading up to a new agreement signed
by both governments confirmed the matter to Malaysiakini.
Malaysiakini
took a look at a document with a chart that outlined the proposed recruitment
and repatriation process of Bangladeshi workers.
According
to the document, various stages of the recruitment process – from application
by employers to arrival – is set to be completed through Foreign Workers
Centralised Management System (FWCMS).
It
also stated that a Malaysian employer can directly liaise with the chosen
Bangladeshi recruitment agent or appoint a Malaysian agent to facilitate the
recruitment process.
On
December 19, Bangladeshi Expatriates' Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed and
Malaysia's Human Resource Minister M Saravanan signed a new five-year labour
recruitment agreement that lifted a freeze imposed since September 1, 2018.
Saravanan,
however, did not disclose specific terms of the MOU, including recruitment
costs and whether there has been a limit set on the number of Bangladesh
recruitment agencies permitted to send workers to Malaysia, said the
Malaysiakini report.
In
Malaysia, migrant rights group Tenaganita were among those who had urged the
government to disclose the MOU terms, raising concerns over the possible
revival of an alleged "syndicate" which had in the past been
attributed to high recruitment costs and other labour abuses.
Source:
The Daily Star
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North America
US
state senator faces backlash over anti-Muslim argument for ending mask mandates
11
January 2022
A
Virginia state senator is facing a wave of backlash from American Muslim and
Jewish groups after she criticised the Muslim face veil when making an argument
against mask mandates.
Amanda
Chase, who has been a member of the Virginia Senate since 2016, has faced
several accusations by Democrats of downplaying the coronavirus pandemic since
the Biden administration introduced mask mandates last year.
In a
Facebook post on her personal page, Chase attempted to draw parallels between
masks and the niqab – a veil worn by some Muslim women which, in addition to an
accompanying headscarf, covers the lower half of the face.
In
her post, Chase claimed that the Muslim face-covering was an attempt by men to
strip women of independence and "break their will and individuality".
She
alleged that "2300 years ago, long before Islam, Arabs discovered that
forcing people to cover their nose and mouths, broke their will and
individuality, and depersonalized them. It made them submissive. That's why
they imposed on every woman the mandatory use of a fabric over her face".
"Modern
psychology explains it: without (a) face we don't exist as independent
beings," she wrote. "The child looks in the mirror between the ages
of two and three and is discovered as an independent being," she further
claimed.
She
also said that wearing masks was the first step in deleting individuality and
"he who does not know his history is condemned to repeat it".
"I'm
introducing legislation this week to stop the COVID-19 mandates to include
mandatory masking. Educate. Not mandate. It's time to save face," she
added.
Chase's
remarks elicited condemnation from various faith and human rights groups, with
the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities saying her post was "not
only factually incorrect, but it irresponsibly marginalizes our Muslim
neighbors".
"Whether
criticism of a mask mandate is used to diminish the Holocaust or to insult and
demean the Muslim faith and tradition - a line is crossed into hate and bigotry
that must be called out and confronted," said the Jewish Community
Federation of Richmond.
Ghazala
Hashmi, Virginia's first Muslim state senator, told Middle East Eye that
Chase's comments demonstrated "bigotry, fearmongering, and
Islamophobia".
"They
also reflect an astounding lack of knowledge of history, culture, and Islam. I
am heartened by the collective response of our interfaith communities in
Virginia,” she said. “I join these groups in calling upon Chase to apologize
for her offensive comments and to sit down with our Muslim and other interfaith
leaders."
"They
have made a gracious offer to help her broaden her understanding, and I hope
that she will make the effort to seek better knowledge and information."
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hoda
Muthana Denied SCOTUS Appeal, Cannot Return to U.S. After Joining Islamic State
BY
LORA KORPAR
1/11/22
The
United States Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Hoda Muthana, a woman who
left the country to join the Islamic State in 2014 and has been trying to
return since 2019.
The
justices refused to consider the appeal, not making any comments on why they
declined it.
Muthana
was born in New Jersey to a Yemeni diplomat father and raised in Alabama. Vox
reported that in 2014, then-University of Alabama, Birmingham student Muthana
told her parents she was going on a school trip to Atlanta.
Instead,
she left the school and used her refunded tuition money to book a flight to
Turkey, eventually making her way to Syria to join the terrorist group.
According to People, she married and had a son with a jihadist who was killed.
On
social media, Muthana celebrated the burning of her U.S. passport and made
posts with statements like "Spill all (the Americans') blood."
However,
as the Islamic State began to crumble in Syria, Muthana expressed regret in her
decision. She tried to get herself and her toddler son back to the U.S., but in
2019, a federal judge ruled that she was never a citizen of the U.S.
According
to Vox, the judge determined Muthana's father, Ahmed Ali Muthana, still had
diplomatic status until February 1995. Because Muthana was born in 1994, the
judge decided that made her a citizen of Yemen despite her being born in the
U.S., as children of active diplomats are not entitled to birthright
citizenship the way other U.S. children are.
Her
family's lawyers tried to appeal the decision, arguing her father turned in his
diplomatic identity card months before Muthana was born.
People
reported that in Spanish filmmaker Alba Sotorra Clua's documentary "The
Return: Life After ISIS," Clua visited the Roj refugee camp in Syria,
where Muthana had been living and caring for her son since surrendering in
2019.
In
the documentary, Muthana said she was "brainwashed" into joining the
Islamic State, adding that what she went through in the group was "this
horrible way of life that I really regret for the rest of my life and that I
wish I could just erase."
The
U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the appeal of a woman who left the U.S.
to join the Islamic State and tried to come back. Above, a view of the Supreme
Court on Capitol Hill on January 7, 2022, in Washington, DC. Photo by Anna
Moneymaker/Getty Images
Her
current whereabouts aren't clear. Family attorney Christina Jump of the
Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America did not immediately return an
email seeking comment Tuesday.
Source:
News Week
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
Supreme Court denies appeal of regretful ISIS bride
11
January ,2022
The
US Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of a woman who left home in
Alabama to join ISIS, but then decided she wanted to return to the United
States.
The
justices declined without comment on Monday to consider the appeal of Hoda
Muthana, who was born in New Jersey in October 1994 to a diplomat from Yemen
and grew up in Alabama near Birmingham.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Muthana
left the US to join ISIS terrorist organization in 2014, apparently after
becoming radicalized online.
While
she was overseas the government determined she was not a US citizen and revoked
her passport, citing her father’s status as a diplomat at the time of her
birth. Her family sued to enable her return to the United States.
A
federal judge ruled in 2019 that the US government correctly determined Muthana
wasn’t a US citizen despite her birth in the country. Children of diplomats
aren’t entitled to birthright citizenship. The family’s lawyers appealed,
arguing that her father’s status as a diplomat assigned to the UN had ended
before her birth, making her automatically a citizen.
Muthana
surrendered to US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as ISIS fighters were losing
the last of their self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria and going to
refugee camps.
Muthana
said she regretted her decision to join the group and wanted to return to the
US with her toddler child, the son of a man she met while living with the
group. The man later died.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Afghans
in US demand Biden administration lift restrictions on assets
Kasim
Ileri and Servet Gunerigok
11.01.2022
WASHINGTON
Afghans
in the US have demanded that the Biden administration lift restrictions on the
Afghan banking sector and release financial assets belonging to the Afghan
people.
The
humanitarian situation is worsening in Afghanistan after the US withdrew troops
from the conflict-hit country and the Taliban took control of the government by
seizing Kabul on Aug. 15.
The
US froze $9 billion in financial assets belonging to the Afghan central bank
after the Taliban takeover and it said assets the government has in the US will
not be available to the Taliban.
"Now,
Afghanistan is in dire need. I hope they (Biden administration) release the
assets of Afghanistan," said Bakhtar Aminzai, a former member of the
Meshrano Jirga, the upper house in the Afghanistan parliament.
Aminzai
made the remarks Monday to Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of a one-day
humanitarian conference for Afghanistan in Washington DC.
He
said the effect of frozen assets directly goes to "innocent Afghan
people" who he said are suffering from the worsening situation in the
country.
"I
think America, American people and government will soon release the assets of
Afghans and encourage charity organizations for helping Afghanistan,"
added Aminzai.
Abdul
Subhan Misbah, chairman at Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief and
Development (ACBAR), said 75% of Afghans currently live below the poverty line.
ACBAR
is an organizer of the conference along with the Zakat Foundation of America --
a Chicago-based NGO that helps the needy in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
He
also cited UN reports that said around 1 million children in Afghanistan could
die from hunger.
"There
is a crisis ongoing and this is all because of the sudden collapse of the
government and failure of our leaders in the past as well as the international
community," said Misbah.
He
said the US put restrictions on the banking system and no aid organization is
allowed to send money to Afghanistan for humanitarian assistance.
"The
US is silent and we want them at least to solve the problem of sending money
for humanitarian purposes," he said.
Mishab
also urged the US and Taliban to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan as soon as
possible, saying time is running out and the situation there becomes more
urgent.
Halil
Demir, the executive director of the Zakat Foundation, told Anadolu Agency that
the world wants to help Afghanistan but the financial ways are closed and the
US refusal to recognize the Taliban government prevents humanitarian aid from
reaching Afghanistan.
"The
banks are not ready for the help we want to give. This is the biggest problem
right now. The lack of financial access to (banking) services is the problem of
all of us," said Demir.
The
US announced Tuesday more than $308 million in humanitarian assistance for the
people of Afghanistan.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
20
years on, Guantanamo remains ‘black mark’ of US war on terror
Kasım
İleri
11.01.2022
WASHINGTON
Although
the US “global war on terror” which began after the deadly 2001 terrorist
attacks was to a large extent concluded following the American army’s
withdrawal last year from Afghanistan, the dark side of this 20-year policy,
its Guantanamo prison, remains open.
The
prison was established 20 years ago today in Guantanamo Bay, which the US
leased from Cuba for the navy in 1903.
The
US took a step that will be recorded as a “black mark” in the history of
international law after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and
the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Then-President
George W. Bush established interrogation cells and prisons outside the
jurisdiction of the judiciary so that those captured by US intelligence, mostly
in the Middle East and Africa, for allegedly being involved with terrorism,
under the name of “war on terror,” would not benefit from the judicial rights
under US law.
Road
to Guantanamo
While
al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks in the US, the country
invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001 on the grounds that it was used as a base
by the terrorist group.
People
arrested by the US Army as terrorist suspects in many countries, especially
Afghanistan, were transferred to interrogation centers at American bases
outside the US and secret prisons established by the CIA to be interrogated
through torture.
The
Bush administration announced on Jan. 11, 2002 that they had established a
prison to hold terrorist suspects at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
However,
although Guantanamo is known as the only prison where terrorist suspects are
held, the existence of torture prisons in many countries, especially Thailand,
remained secret until 2006.
Nearly
800 people tortured in Guantanamo
Within
one year after its establishment, 680 suspects were brought to Guantanamo
prison, where those arrested in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other regional countries
were subjected to various forms of torture.
According
to the US Defense Department, to date, 797 suspects have been held at
Guantanamo.
Images
of daily life in Guantanamo, called "the worst prison in the world,” have
been shared with the public in only a very limited fashion.
The
status of the suspects, dressed in orange jumpsuits and sometimes black hoods,
has been at the center of the Guantanamo-related controversy.
The
international community, especially human rights groups, points to how the Bush
administration opened Guantanamo to comfortably carry out torture, which is
considered a crime in the US, and to prevent the prisoners from benefiting from
the protections of US law.
In
addition, the Bush administration's definition of detainees here as “enemy
combatants” paved the way for their trial in widely criticized military courts.
Obama
failed to keep his word
Announcing
in 2007 that he would run for president, Barack Obama made the closure of
Guantanamo one of his key campaign planks.
During
his two-term presidency, from 2009 to 2017, Obama constantly emphasized that he
wanted to close Guantanamo.
In a
decree he signed a few days after taking office Obama ordered the prison closed
within one year, but was unable to fulfill this order.
In
February 2016, the last year of his presidency, Obama finally announced a plan
for the closure of Guantanamo before the cameras at the White House, saying
that he planned to send some of the remaining detainees to their own countries
or to third countries that accept them.
But
at a press conference at the White House in the last months of his term, Obama
admitted that he was unable to close Guantanamo, claiming that congressional
opposition stood in his way.
When
Obama took office, there were 245 detainees in Guantanamo, and during his term
he completed the trial of 204, extradited some to their own countries, and put
some under the control of a third country, leaving the prison with a small
fraction of its Bush-era population.
‘Taliban
5’ released during Obama era
The
most talked-about Guantanamo issue in recent years was the 2014 exchange of US
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban after leaving his unit in
Afghanistan, for five high-ranking Taliban members.
The
Taliban members, also known as the "Taliban Five,” took critical positions
in the Taliban interim government established in Kabul after the US completed
its withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, 2021.
Only
1 person released during Trump era
Donald
Trump promised that if he won the presidency in 2016, he would not close down
Guantanamo but instead would, in his own words, “load it up with some bad
dudes.”
On
Feb. 18, 2018, about a year after he took office, Trump announced that he had
signed a new presidential decree to keep the prison open.
While
no new detainees were brought to the prison during the Trump era, after Trump's
announcement, the Pentagon announced on May 2, 2018, that they had extradited a
Saudi citizen named Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi to Riyadh and that Darbi
would remain in a prison in Saudi Arabia until 2027.
Darbi
became the only detainee released from Guantanamo during the Trump era.
Will
Biden shut it down?
Current
US President Joe Biden stressed both during his vice presidency under Obama and
during the 2020 presidential race that Guantanamo should be closed.
Since
taking office last year, Biden has so far only released one Guantanamo
detainee.
The
Pentagon announced on July 19, 2021, that they extradited the last Moroccan
citizen, 56-year-old Abdul Latif Nasir, from Guantanamo to his home country.
With
the first release under Biden, the number of detainees in Guantanamo fell to
just 39, but there are still questions about Biden's ability to close down this
notorious prison.
According
to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, two of the remaining 39 detainees have
been sentenced, while military court processes for 10 others continue.
While
13 other detainees are eligible for extradition, 14 are subject to periodic
review.
After
the completion of the military court process, the detainees are then evaluated
as to whether they are suitable for extradition.
It
turned out that 85% of those released or extradited under Obama were not
related to terrorism in any way, but it still took years for 197 detainees to
be released from Guantanamo.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US to
send $308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
12
Jan 2022
The
United States has announced that they will send to Afghanistan $308 million and
one million doses of “Covax” vaccines as part of their humanitarian aids to the
country.
Spokesperson
of the US National Security Council Emily Horne said that the money is part of
$782 million announced by the US government in October 2021 for the Afghan
people.
Horne
said that the US is now the biggest donor for Afghanistan.
The
$308 million is supposed to be given to the Afghan people through the United
States Agency of International Development (USAID).
“The
amount of money will be used to provide shelter, water, and health facilities
that are urgent needs due to the spread of COVID-19, drought, and winter
season.” Said Horne.
The
spokesperson added that the US is continuing to support Afghan people through
all means possible.
The
aid is announced at a time when the US still has Afghanistan’s nearly $10
billion frozen in its banks.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/us-to-send-308-million-in-humanitarian-aid-to-afghanistan-3463473/
--------
UN
pleads $5 billion for Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
12
Jan 2022
The
United Nations and other humanitarian agencies made their request for
addressing the humanitarian needs of Afghanistan in 2022 that amounts to $5
billion.
The
UN has said that the money will be spent to address the urgent needs of 22
million Afghans inside Afghanistan and 6 million Afghan refugees in five
regional countries.
The
request by the UN and humanitarian agencies was made on Tuesday, January 11,
2022.
UN
Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Martin Griffiths said that the stop-gap is absolutely essential that is put to
the International Community and that the future looks bleak in terms of mass
immigration and suffering of the Afghan people if they do not get the money.
Among
the $5 billion, $4.4 billion will be used in the areas of food and medicines,
prevention of malnutrition, providing potable water, hygiene, urgent shelter,
education, and agriculture.
Meanwhile,
$623 million is asked by UNHCR to be given to 40 humanitarian agencies to
address the needs of Afghan refugees in other countries.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/un-pleads-5-billion-for-afghanistans-humanitarian-crisis-463634/
--------
Pakistan
Educationists
And Activists In Pakistan Hail Supreme Court’s Questioning Extra Marks For
Memorizing Quran
Kamran
Chaudhry
January
11, 2022
Educationists
and activists in Pakistan have hailed the nation’s apex court for questioning a
student’s plea seeking extra marks for memorizing the Quran while seeking
admission to a medical course.
“Why
should a Hafiz-e-Quran [a person who memorizes the Quran] be given extra marks
for university admissions?” asked Justice Qazi Faez Isa while hearing a
petition filed by a student after being denied admission to the Bolan
University of Medical and Health Sciences in Quetta.
“We
believe that memorizing the Quran is sacred. And it is a plus point when
someone wants to become the imam of a mosque or a religious lecturer. But how
can a Hafiz-e-Quran be a better doctor?” he added.
The
Supreme Court on Jan. 10 also issued notices to the Pakistan Medical Commission
and others to submit replies to a query as to why additional marks should be
given for memorizing the Quran while admitting someone to medical colleges and
universities.
The
government of Pakistan during the regime of General Zia-ul-Huq in 1987 had
passed a law that Hafiz-e-Quran candidates would be graced with 20 extra marks
at every level after matriculation.
The
student petitioner cited the law to plead before the court that if given 20
additional marks for memorizing the Quran, he could be easily enrolled for a
medical course.
Church
leaders as well as representatives of other minority communities, who have
often complained about this discriminatory practice, welcomed the apex court
judge’s remarks as “a key step to empowering religious minorities in Pakistan.”
They
have over the years pointed out how non-Muslim students lose out to their
majority counterparts when seeking admissions to professional courses or jobs
with the Public Service Commission due to the provision for granting 20 extra
marks for memorizing the Quran.
The
Catholic bshops' National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) has been
lobbying against the policy for more than a decade. In 2006, it even filed a
case when a Christian student was denied admission to a medical college despite
achieving the required marks.
“The
officials of the health department didn’t even appear for the court hearings.
The student was later accommodated in a dental college,” Ata-ur-Rehman Saman,
coordinator of the NCJP, told UCA News.
Sabir
Michael, a Catholic professor at the University of Karachi, welcomed the
verdict. “It’s a good step. We always demanded fair play,” he said.
“We
don’t object to extra marks if minority candidates are awarded an equal
advantage. The verdict sends a clear message. Article 25 of the constitution
guarantees equal citizenship," he told UCA News while regretting that many
generations had lost the opportunity as authorities kept violating the
constitution.
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/pakistan-court-questions-extra-marks-for-reciting-quran/95679
--------
IS-K
militants on the run after evading police raid
January
11, 2022
QUETTA:
A band of suspected Islamic State militants is on the run after escaping a
police raid that killed six other members of the group, officials said late
Monday.
Counter-terrorism
police said in a statement they had stormed a hideout in Quetta on Saturday and
killed six militants, but “around four to five managed to escape.”
Among
the dead was Asghar Sumalani, a junior commander in the regional chapter of
Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K). He had an Rs2 million ($11,400) bounty on his
head.
“Teams
are now raiding different areas to arrest those who escaped,” a senior police
official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.
The
group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks, including the slaying of
11 miners from the ethnic Hazara minority early last year.
Some
of the miners were beheaded after being kidnapped from a remote coal mine in
the mountainous Machh town, 60 kilometres southeast of Quetta.
IS-K
has deep roots in several provinces in eastern Afghanistan along the porous
border with Pakistan.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/01/11/is-k-militants-on-the-run-after-evading-police-raid/
--------
Pakistan
economic condition better than India: Imran Khan
Omer
Farooq Khan
Jan
12, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Faced with the challenge of getting a controversial legislation passed to meet
the International Monetary Fund’s requirements ahead of a bailout package of $1
billion, Pakistan PM Imran Khan said on Tuesday that the country’s economic
condition, under his government, was still better than many countries of the
region, particularly India.
“Pakistan
is still one of the cheapest countries compared to (many countries of) the
world… they (opposition) call us incompetent, but the fact is that our
government has saved the nation from all crises,” Khan said while addressing
the inaugural ceremony of the International Chambers Summit 2022 arranged by
the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) in Islamabad. He said
that oil prices in the country are still lower than other countries.
His
claims coincided with a fiery debate over a finance bill that the incumbent
government has introduced in the parliament. The bill is one of the
requirements Pakistan has to meet under the programme agreed with the IMF in
July 2019. If passed, the legislation will pave the way for the disbursement of
a $1-billion tranche. The controversial finance bill included complete autonomy
of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
As
the matter was taken up for debate in the National Assembly, leader of the
opposition and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif questioned how it was possible
for the country to be an atomic power on one hand and be holding a begging bowl
on the other.
Assailing
the government, the PML-N president said that the ruling Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had drowned the country’s economy and was also
endangering its security.
Source:
Times of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pak
PM Imran Khan says his govt's relationship with military 'exceptional'
Jan
11, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has reiterated that his government's
relationship with the country's powerful military was "exceptional” and
the opposition's narrative regarding a rift between the two was "dead and
buried", a media report said on Tuesday.
In an
apparent response to his detractors, Khan told a meeting of the ruling Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party spokespersons on Monday that "civil-military
relations are unprecedented these days", Dawn newspaper reported.
Khan
said that the relationship between his government and the military was
"exceptional" and the opposition's narrative regarding a rift between
them was "dead and buried", the paper said.
He
had shared similar views during a meeting with a journalist last week,
according to the paper.
When
asked - in the context of rumours of a possible deal between the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and military to send his government packing -
whether he felt threatened from any quarters, Khan said he personally was not
under any kind of pressure.
He
said that he enjoyed the support of government allies and expressed the
confidence that his government would complete its mandated five years.
The
powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years
of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of
security and foreign policy.
A
close aide to Khan told the paper after attending the meeting that he praised
the military for swiftly rushing to the aid of those stranded in Murree and
carrying out a rescue operation in the calamity-hit hill station.
Pakistan's
popular hill station Murree was declared a calamity-hit area on Saturday after
at least 23 people, including nine children, froze to death in their stranded
vehicles due to unprecedented snowfall and rush of tourists to the picturesque
town in Punjab province.
Khan
said the number of tourists in the country had increased while the
infrastructure was the same as it was several decades ago, stressing the need
for improving facilities and constructing new hotels in tourist spots.
Source:
Times of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Pakistani’s
research leads to first pig-to-human heart transplant
Anwar
Iqbal
January
12, 2022
WASHINGTON:
Dow graduate Dr Mohammad Mohiuddin’s groundbreaking research led to the first
pig-to-human heart transplant in history and the heart is now beating normally
in the body of a 57-year-old recipient, David Bennet Sr.
Doctors
at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSM) said Mr Bennet had a
life-threatening heart disease but did not specify his illness.
“We
are all very excited to see this pig heart beating in this human. This pig
heart has performed very well so far. Even beyond our expectations, since we
have not seen any signs of rejection,” said Dr Mohiuddin in an interview
released by the UMSM.
Doctors
and surgeons at the UMSM told The New York Times (NYT) that the eight-hour
operation took place in Baltimore on Friday, and the patient, a Maryland
resident, was doing well on Monday.
“It
creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart,” said Dr Bartley
Griffith, the director of the cardiac transplant programme at the medical
centre, who performed the operation.
“It’s
working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow
will bring us. This has never been done before,” he told the NYT.
“It
is the first successful transplant of a pig’s heart into a human being,” the
newspaper noted. “The breakthrough may one day lead to new supplies of animal
organs for transplant into human patients.”
Dr
Mohiuddin is the director of the university’s xenotransplant programme. Taking
a tissue or organ from a donor of a species and planting it in the body of
another species is called xenotransplant or xenografting.
“We
have modified ten genes in this pig heart, knocking out four genes. Three of
those responsible for producing antibodies that cause rejection,” he explained.
“And one gene was knocked out to control the growth of pig and its organs.”
Dr
Mohiuddin said that hundreds of thousands of people across the globe needed
organs and “unfortunately, like this patient, may not qualify for a
transplant”.
So,
“if xenografts become readily available, and are allowed to be put-in in these
patients, all of them could receive hearts or any other organs from these
modified pigs. And we would be able to save their lives”.
Declaring
the process “a game changer”, Dr Mohiuddin said that if this transplant worked,
“we will now have all these organs readily available. And I hope it will work”.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1668979/pakistanis-research-leads-to-first-pig-to-human-heart-transplant
--------
COAS
for mission-oriented training to ensure combat readiness in face of emerging
threats, challenges
January
11, 2022
RAWALPINDI:
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Tuesday emphasised
continued mission-oriented training to ensure combat readiness in the face of
emerging threats and challenges.
The
COAS expressed these views while presiding over the 246th Corps Commanders’
Conference held here at the GHQ. The Forum took comprehensive review of the
security situation with particular focus on Border Management and Internal Security.
The
participants were apprised on the progress and achievements of Operation
Radd-ul-Fassad in detail. The COAS appreciated the efforts of formations
involved in relief operations to mitigate challenges of people affected due to
snow storm in Murree and heavy rainfalls in Balochistan.
Source:
Pakistan Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Pakistan
seeks meaningful collaboration with EU nations: Qureshi
January
11, 2022
MADRID/ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan desired a meaningful partnership with Spain and other members of the
European Union, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.
According
to a Radio Pakistan report, Qureshi arrived in the Spanish capital late Monday
on a two-day visit at the invitation of his counterpart José Manuel Albares.
The
minister was received by Pakistan’s ambassador in Madrid Shujaat Rathore and
officials from the host Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on his arrival.
“The
Pakistani government, under its policy of economic diplomacy, is working on
attracting the world’s attention towards the country’s rising market of 200
million population and the investment and trade opportunities in here,” the
foreign minister said while speaking at a banquet he hosted at Pakistan House
in honour of various think tanks.
Pakistan
regards Spain as an important nation in both bilateral and European Union
contexts, he said, adding there are numerous opportunities for both countries
to bolster bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
Qureshi
reiterated Pakistan’s “utmost” efforts for maintaining peace in Afghanistan and
the region.
“A
peaceful Afghanistan would promote regional linkages which would help in
achieving our economic targets,” he said.
Besides
meeting with Albares, Qureshi will hold meetings with other ministers and
members of the Spanish Parliament.
In
2021, Pakistan and Spain celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment
of diplomatic relations.
Source:
Pakistan Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Hamas:
Israel’s Violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque Will Have Dire Consequences
2022-January-11
In a
statement released on Sunday, Hamas Spokesman Mohamed Hamada denounced Israel’s
attempts to obstruct maintenance and restoration work at the Mosque’s premises,
calling on Al-Quds people to further frequent the Mosque under these
circumstances.
Hamas
also censured Israel’s aggression against Islamic Awqaf officials and employees
of the Islamic Awqaf in the holy city.
It is
a regular thing for Israeli legislators and settlers to provocatively intrude
into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, infuriating the Palestinians. Such mass
settler break-ins almost always take place at the behest of Tel Aviv-backed
temple groups and under the auspices of the Israeli police in Al-Quds.
In
October 2021, an Israeli court upheld a ban on Jewish prayers at the Al-Aqsa
Mosque compound, after an earlier decision by a lower court stirred outrage
among various Palestinians and across the Muslim world.
In
May the same year, frequent acts of violence against Palestinian worshipers at
Al-Aqsa Mosque led to an 11-day war between Palestinian resistance groups in
the besieged Gaza Strip and the Israeli regime, during which the regime killed
at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children.
Palestinians
want the occupied West Bank as part of their future independent state and view
Al-Quds’ Eastern sector as the capital of their future sovereign state.
Demolition
of mosques by Israelis is also commonplace across the Palestinian land. The
United Nations has reported a 21-percent increase in the number of Palestinian
structures that were confiscated or destroyed last year.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Israel’s
library Middle East, Islamic collection draws online attention
11/01/2022
JERUSALEM-
Israel’s
national library says the number of visitors to its Arabic website more than
doubled last year, driven by a growing collection of digitised materials and an
aggressive outreach campaign to the Arab world.
Around
650,000 users, predominantly from the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan and Algeria, visited the National Library of Israel’s English
and Arabic sites in 2021, said library spokesman Zack Rothbart.
One
of the most heavily-trafficked resources on the Arabic website is a newspaper
archive with more than 200,000 pages of Arabic publications from Ottoman and
British Mandate Palestine, said Raquel Ukeles, head of the library’s
collections.
“We
have been working on outreach to the Arab world, into the Arabic-speaking
public here in Israel for over a decade and we have slowly built up a rich set
of resources on our websites,” she said. They include the digital newspaper
archives, manuscripts, posters, electronic books and music, she said. They are
open access, allowing scholars and curious web browsers to visit.
The
Jerusalem library is home to an extensive collection of Islamic and Arabic
texts, including thousands of rare books and manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and
Turkish ranging from the 9th to the 20th centuries.
“We’re
in the midst of a project to digitise our entire collection, to scan all of our
Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts,” said Samuel Thrope, curator of the
library’s Islam and Middle East Collection. “Ninety-five percent of it has
already been completed.”
Source:
The Arab Weekly
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://thearabweekly.com/israels-library-middle-east-islamic-collection-draws-online-attention
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Iran
Calls for End to War, Siege of Yemen
2022-January-12
During
the meeting in Muscat, Amir Abdollahian described the participation of Yemenis
as the solution for Yemeni problems, saying that Yemeni-Yemeni talks can
determine the political future of the country.
The
Iranian foreign minister expressed deep regret over the prolongation of the
imposed war against the oppressed Yemeni nation and stressed the need for
ending the siege of Yemen and ending the war in that country.
“The
only way to solve the problems with which the Yemeni people are entangled is
the diplomatic way and Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations can draw the future Yemen and
its political developments,” Amir Abdollahian added.
Abdul
Salam, for his part, appreciated Iran’s support for the Yemeni nation
elaborated on the latest developments at the warfronts in Yemen.
Saudi
Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the devastating war on
Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni
president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular
Ansarullah resistance movement.
Yemeni
armed forces and allied Popular Committees have, however, gone from strength to
strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged
down in the country.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001021000904/Iran-Calls-fr-End-War-Siege-f-Yemen
--------
Baktash
Abtin’s death part of Iran ‘systematic killing’ of jailed dissidents: Inmates
11
January ,2022
The
death of dissident Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin is part of the
Iranian regime’s “systematic killing” of imprisoned dissidents, a group of
political prisoners in Iran said on Monday.
Abtin,
a prominent poet and author, died in a hospital in Tehran, the Iranian Writers
Association said on Saturday.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Abtin,
who was serving a six-year prison sentence, was earlier put into an induced
coma. The 48-year-old had contracted COVID-19 twice in prison.
Blaming
the Iranian judiciary and prison authorities for Abtin’s death, a group of
political prisoners in Iran, in a statement published Monday, described his
death as a continuation of the “chain murders” – a series of murders of Iranian
dissidents and intellectuals critical of the Iranian regime in Iran and abroad
in the 1980s and 1990s.
The
statement also described Abtin’s death as the “systematic killing of political
prisoners” by Iran.
“Baktash,
like the rest of those imprisoned by the Islamic Republic, was on the one hand
sentenced to a gradual death due to the deplorable health conditions of prison,
and on the other hand sentenced to a certain death after the emergence of the
coronavirus,” the statement said.
Abtin
was sentenced to six years in prison and transferred to Tehran’s Evin Prison in
September 2020. The charges against him included his membership in the Iranian
Writers Association and visiting the graves of victims of the chain murders.
Along
with fellow Iranian Writers Association board members Keyvan Bajan and Reza
Khandan Mahabadi, Abtin had been given the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write award by
writers’ rights group PEN America in September 2021.
Abtin’s
death ‘aided and abbeted’ by the regime
Abtin’s
death was “utterly preventable,” PEN America’s Chief Executive Officer Suzanne
Nossel said on Saturday, adding that his death was “aided and abetted” by
Iranian authorities.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Elderly
Palestinian man killed by Israeli soldiers
Qais
Abu Samra
12.01.2022
RAMALLAH,
Palestine
An
elderly Palestinian was killed on Wednesday, north of Ramallah after being
assaulted by Israeli soldiers.
Fuad
Fattoum, the head of the municipal council in the village of Jaljulia, told
Anadolu Agency that the elderly Omar Abdel-Majid Asaad, 80 years, from the
village, died after being held and assaulted by the Israeli army.
He
said an Israeli force stormed the village and detained the elderly man after
beating and handcuffing him.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/elderly-palestinian-man-killed-by-israeli-soldiers/2471695
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Palestinians
rally in support of prisoners held by Israel
Awad
al-Rujoub
11.01.2022
RAMALLAH,
Palestine
Palestinians
organized several rallies in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in a show of
solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
One
of the main protests was held outside the office of the International Committee
of the Red Cross in the central city of Al-Bireh.
Participants
have called on international human rights groups to intervene to free Nasser
Abu Hamid, a Palestinian prisoner battling cancer in detention.
Israel
“is practicing slow killing” of Palestinian prisoners through “medical
negligence”, Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS),
a local NGO advocating for prisoners’ rights, told participants.
Speaking
to Anadolu Agency, the coordinator of the national and Islamic forces in
Ramallah, Issam Abu Bakr, called for "the broadest popular and official
solidarity campaign with the sick prisoners."
On
Sunday, the PPS said that 49-year-old Abu Hamid is experiencing a "serious
deterioration" in his health condition.
In
detention since 2002, Abu Hamid, who hails from Al-Amari camp in Ramallah, was
sentenced to life by Israel on charges of resisting the occupation and
participating in the establishment of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, blacklisted
by Israel.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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South Asia
Afghan
Resistance Front proposes transitional govt to Taliban in Tehran talks
Jan
12, 2022
KABUL:
Afghanistan Resistance Front proposed the transitional government to the
Taliban when the two sides met in Tehran on the sidelines of a meeting where
the Kabul delegation held negotiations with the Iranian government.
The
Islamic Emirate delegates visited Iran on Saturday and returned to Kabul on
Monday.
The
RF member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that the Islamic
Emirate team in return suggested that the Resistance Front leaders should
return to Afghanistan--and the meeting ended with no tangible results,
according to Tolo News.
Acting
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who was leading the Islamic Emirate
delegation in Iran, said they had good discussions with the Resistance Front's
team.
"You
can also come if you have any complaints. We will sit and talk about it,"
he said.
Four
officials from the Islamic Emirate and five members of the Resistance Front
participated in the negotiating teams.
Acting
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting Economic Minister Din Mohammad
Hanif, acting Industries and Commerce Minister Nooruddin Azizi, acting Deputy
Minister for Borders and Tribal Affairs Haji Gul Mohammad were representing the
Islamic Emirate in the negotiations.
Ismail
Khan, Mawlawi Habibullah Hesam, Abdul Hafiz Mansoor, a member of the Resistance
Front, Hesamuddin Shams, the former governor of Badghis, and Abdul Zahir Faiz
Zada, the former governor of Ghor were members of the Resistance Front's
negotiating team. Ismail Khan was leading this team, according to Tolo News.
It is
not known whether the Islamic Emirate and the Resistance Front pledged to
continue such meetings in the future, according to Tolo News.
Source:
Times of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Taliban
warned of repercussions if choppers, planes were not returned by Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan
12
Jan 2022
Acting
Minister of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Mullah Muhammad
Yaqoob Mujahid asked Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to bring back Afghanistan’s
planes and choppers lest they will react forcefully.
Speaking
at a gathering of Afghan pilots and personnel of the Afghan Air Force, Mujahid
said that the planes and choppers that are flown out to the neighboring
countries by Afghan pilots after August 15 are the possession of Afghanistan
thus they should be returned.
“We
may relatively be weaker than those of our neighbor country but we are not
cowardly and will take into account every single spare part of our planes and
helicopters. I ask them respectfully to return our planes and helicopters and
do not question our patience any further.” Said the Defense Minister.
Son
of the founder of Taliban Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid thanked all engineers,
staff, and pilots of the Afghanistan Air Force for not leaving their country
and having reactivated the Force and asked the Afghan pilots who have left
Afghanistan to return to the country.
Mullah
Muhammad Yaqoob further said that they are working for having an independent
Air Force that is reliable to no foreign aid and will be used to protect people
and the borders of Afghanistan.
Source:
Khaama Press
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Prominent
Taliban Critic Released After Arrest, Says Daughter
January
11, 2022
Kabul:
A prominent Afghan university professor arrested by Taliban authorities after
criticising them on television was released on Tuesday, his daughter said.
Professor
Faizullah Jalal was detained in Kabul on Saturday and taken to an unknown
location by Taliban forces, who came back to power in August.
Since
their takeover, the hardline Islamists have cracked down on dissent, forcefully
dispersing women's rights protests and briefly detaining several Afghan
journalists.
"After
more than four days of detention on baseless charges, I confirm that Professor
Jalal is now finally released," tweeted his daughter Hasina Jalal, a
fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, after launching a social media
campaign calling for his release.
Government
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had tweeted that Jalal had made statements on
social media in which he was "trying to instigate people against the
system".
"He
has been arrested so that others don't make similar senseless comments... that
harm the dignity of others," he added.
Jalal's
family said the tweets shared by Mujahid were from a fake Twitter account they
had tried to get shut down.
"The
Taliban are just using these posts as an excuse to silence a strong voice
within the country," Hasina told news agency AFP after the arrest.
Clips
of Jalal's television appearances attacking the Taliban's forceful rule and the
worsening economic situation had previously gone viral on social media,
sparking concern he risked Taliban retribution.
In
one live talk show, he called Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem -- who was also
participating -- a "calf", a grave insult in Afghanistan.
Source:
ND TV
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Africa
Ogun
Obaship law: Traditionalists threaten court action, says Muslims, Christians
can’t bury Obas
January
11, 2022
By
Ishola Oludare
Traditionalists
in Ogun State have vowed to challenge the controversial chiefs law in court,
saying Obas must be buried by traditional worshippers.
DAILY
POST reports that Governor Dapo Abiodun had on Monday signed the ‘Obas, Chiefs,
Council of Obas and Traditional Council law of Ogun State, Bill 2021’ into law
at the residence of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona.
The
law, which was kicked against by traditional worshippers, has stopped the
imposition of rituals during the installation and burial of a monarch.
It
empowers the family of a deceased Oba to decide how he would be buried in
accordance with his faith.
As
gathered, the new law also allows a newly elected Oba to choose whether or not
he would go through the usual seclusion rites, known as Ipebi in Yoruba land.
Promoters
of the new law believe say it would curb fetish practices in the process of
installing and burying traditional rulers in the state.
However,
the Oluwo of Iperu and Vice Chairman of Osugbo Remo Parapo, Ifasola Opeodu, has
threatened to challenge the law before a competent court, saying “a dead man
has no right under the law.”
Opeodu
maintained that nobody is forced to become an Oba, stressing that “on no
account should either Christians or Muslims bury an Oba.”
His
words: “We are going to call a meeting, we are challenging the implementation
in court. We are going to ask the court to restrict them from implementing the
law and the court will decide.
“The
first ground is that a dead man has no right under the law. Anybody that is
dead has lost all the rights that he has.
“The
right of Obas that they are claiming that we are violating is not right because
a dead man has no right again under the law.
“Secondly,
what we are saying is that Obaship institution will is optional, we are not
forcing anybody to come there, we are not saying they should not bury Obas, but
what we are opposing, if you follow, our argument is that how can they now say
Christians and Muslims should come and be burying Obas, traditional heads? If
there is anything that they don’t want during their burials, they should say,
but traditionalists must be the ones to bury Obas, not Christians.
Source:
Daily Post
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Sudan’s
medics shaken by attacks on hospitals treating anti-coup protesters
11
January ,2022
On
the afternoon of December 30, security forces banged on the windows of Khartoum
Teaching Hospital, then fired tear gas into an emergency room packed with
protesters injured in a nearby demonstration.
“We
were around the corner trying to hide, it came right past our heads,” said a
nurse who asked to withhold her name for fear of retribution. “We couldn’t
breathe and had to rush out.”
Attacks
on medical facilities seen during an uprising in Sudan three years ago have
re-emerged during rallies against an October coup, deepening anger among the
protest movement and further straining a chronically under-resourced health
system.
The
coup ended an agreement between the military and major political parties to
share power following a 2019 uprising that toppled Omar al-Bashir after three
decades of autocratic rule.
Continuing
violence against demonstrations could complicate efforts to resolve a standoff
between military leaders and a large protest movement that wants civilian rule.
Hundreds
of protesters have been injured since the coup, mainly from live gunshot and
tear gas canisters, and at least 63 have died, according to the Central
Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD), a medics’ union aligned with protesters.
Military
leaders justify their coup as saving Sudan from chaos and have said they will
protect the right to peaceful protest. In a statement on Saturday, the Khartoum
State security committee expressed regret at the “violations” of hospital
grounds and committed to providing high-ranking officers inside facilities to
monitor any breaches.
‘Immoral,
inhumane’
Assaults
on medical facilities have centered on hospitals which lie along main protest
routes and routinely treat injured protesters.
Near
Khartoum Teaching Hospital, security forces have repeatedly tried to disperse
protesters and chase them down side streets as they march towards the
presidential palace, about 1.2 km (0.75 miles) away.
Khartoum
Teaching Hospital has been attacked with tear gas three times, said its
director Dr. Elfatih Abdallah.
“This
is immoral, inhumane, and not acceptable at all,” he said, pointing at a
circular dent in the wall caused by a tear gas canister.
Patients
and their friends and relatives have also been assaulted and arrested inside
the hospital, and security forces have chased protesters into wards, said
deputy hospital director Emad Mamoun.
Asked
for comment, a police official, who requested not to be named, said: “We do not
assault any doctors and doctors are well-respected by us, as we consider them
colleagues. We do not assault citizens, as our role is to protect them.”
Medics
say it is not always clear which part of Sudan’s security apparatus is
responsible. They say that even when security forces do not enter the hospital,
tear gas is often fired nearby, making it difficult to work.
CCSD
has accused security forces of besieging hospitals and blocking the entrance
and exit of ambulances during protests.
On
Sunday, medics marched in lab coats to submit a report to the office of the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights documenting more than 20 alleged incidents
of security forces impeding medical care across the country since the coup.
The
attacks caused the caretaker health minister to submit his resignation, though
colleagues later persuaded him to stay.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
Political
parties banned from Tunisia state TV: Press syndicate
11
January ,2022
Tunisian
state television has barred all political parties from entering its buildings
or taking part in talk shows in a serious setback for press freedoms, the
country’s press syndicate said on Tuesday.
Mehdi
Jlassi, the syndicate head, told Reuters the apparent ban had been in force
since President Kais Saied seized most powers in July in moves that his foes
have branded a coup.
He
said it was the first time such a ban had been in place since the 2011
revolution that ended the autocratic rule of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
and introduced democracy.
Government
and state television officials were not immediately available for comment.
Jlassi
said: “Since July 25, there has been a political decision to prevent all
parties from entering television..., which is a very dangerous and
unprecedented matter that seriously threatens freedom of the press and
perpetuates individual power.”
In
July, Saied dismissed the government and suspended parliament, saying these
were necessary steps to stop the state collapsing after years of political
party feuding and policymaking paralysis.
He
has started preparing a new constitution that he says he will offer to a
referendum in June.
Since
Saied’s intervention, the state television channel al-Wataniya has featured no
political guests, On Monday he criticized local media, saying they “lie, lie
like news bulletins.”
Only
state media representatives were invited by the presidency to a press
conference with the Algerian president last month.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Nigerian
president hails reappointment of former minister as UN deputy secretary-general
Olarewaju
Kola
11.01.2022
LAGOS,
Nigeria
Nigerian
President Muhammed Buhari hailed the reappointment Tuesday of a female former
minister from the country as UN deputy secretary-general.
"(Amina)
Mohammed’s dedication to duty has always been exceptional. The UN Deputy
Secretary-General remains an inspiration to many women in Nigeria, Africa and
the global community," said Buhari.
He
commended UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the confidence placed on
the former minister and reiterated the support of Nigeria for the UN chief and
the UN community.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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--------
Bomb
blast kills at least 2 security personnel in Somalia
Mohammed
Dhaysane
11.01.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
At
least two Somali military personnel were killed and several others wounded when
a bomb blast targeted military vehicles carrying security personnel in the
country's south.
The
security convoy was hit by remotely controlled explosive devices while
traveling between the town of Jowhar and the small town of Qalimow in the
Middle Shabelle region, according to officials who spoke to Anadolu Agency over
the phone.
"A
military vehicle was destroyed by a landmine explosion, and several soldiers
were wounded and taken to a hospital in Mogadishu for treatment," an
official said.
Jowhar,
a major town located 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the nation’s capital
Mogadishu, is the administrative capital of Hirshabelle State.
Separately,
at least three soldiers were killed and four wounded when the
al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab attacked a Somali National Army
base in the vicinity of Qalimow in the Middle Shabelle region.
Officials
in the region have confirmed the attack and causalities on the Somali military
side.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/bomb-blast-kills-at-least-2-security-personnel-in-somalia/2471282
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